𝑻ʜᴇ 𝑆ᴛᴏᴡᴀᴡᴀʏ ( UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

Another wave of panic washes over grime covered features , she moves quickly through the blaring sound . Reaching out she grabs the extinguisher , stumbling over herself she holds it out to him .

The sheer panic in his voice is enough to have her nerves flaring up . He was usually the one who was more put together . . In her eyes at least . That's just how he held himself around her .

Poor sheltered Stella as soon as it's in his hand ? She's scooting herself back into her corner . Terror burrowing its way into her heart . It was in this moment , that she felt the most useless . . She ever had in her natural life . And it hit her like a ton of bricks .

What could she do to help him . . . Nothing she would just get in the way . That's what she was told on Eden by the others . So she kept her distance . So she sits there like a child who has been disciplined .

He all but snatches the extinguisher from her hands, entirely focused on putting out the fire. Panic rising in his chest. Thankfully, he's able to put out the flames before anything gets worse. His sigh of relief is interrupted by the blaring of the speaker.

HULL BREACH. HULL BREACH. HULL BREACH.

If he were here alone, he'd screamd and shout and rip the damn thing out of the wall. Unfortunately, he's keenly aware of Stella cowering in the corner. And so he does as he always does: shuts his own feelings out for the sake of hers. A deep, shaky breath before he reaches up and smacks the speaker -- once, twice, until it stops making noise.

"Okay," he says, more to reassure himself than anything. "That's one disaster averted." Then he turns to Stella and, miraculously, manages to smile. "Sorry for yelling. You okay?"

Being extremely on edge , all she can do ? Is stare up at him . Sending him a shaky nod , she holds her own . She got herself in this situation . . She needs to own up to it . Bringing a hand up she gives him a thumbs up .

But the look on her face conveys the opposite . A little white lie won't hurt her right ? Besides . . She had already made things worse being here . She didn't need to add on top of that . Pushing herself away from the wall ; she pulls herself to her feet .

But as soon as she did this , it all but settled in . . Had he just broke the speaker on the wall ? Optics snap towards it . Blowing wide she looks back to him . A questioning look washes over her features . Surely there had to be a better way to handle that . .

Tapping her hand against the wall , heat hits her in droves once more .

𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝑫𝒊𝒅 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 ?

The fear she felt only amplified here .

" stel– . . . what the hell are you doing here? "

[ @frcmblood \ context is up to you! ]

Her head snaps up , optics blowing wide . . Yet she feigned innocence as if she hadn't done anything wrong . Hands move swiftly as she signs to him .

𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒀𝒐𝒖

She points out as if that is obvious . . Which it should be .

his gaze only gets more bewildered as she signs. " why the fuck– no, stella, i mean why are you here? down here? " he glances back towards the open crawlspace, fear gripping his heart with a dark hand. what if he hadn't gone down sooner? what if it had taken longer for him to find her? it had taken long enough in the first place. his hand shakes slightly as he reaches out to grab her shoulder – gently at first, then more firmly, as if subconsciously realizing she was, in fact, real. " are– are you okay? do you– what . . . " shaking his head, he stares at the crawlspace a moment longer, heart pounding against his rib cage as if it's trying to break out. his fingers tighten slightly on her shoulder, looking back to her. " . . . are you alright? "

At this point ? Her heart is beating so fast , she's convinced the sub itself could sense how fearful she was . Arms move to encircle her brother tightly . A shaky breath rolls past split lips . Her mind was failing her in this moment . Instead she aims for tapping against his chest . 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 . . Morse code . Just another way they communicate .

Her grip around him tightens . In fear that if she lets go ? He will disappear ; that she will open her eyes and she will still be trapped beneath the floor .

she moves in and he instinctively pulls her close, arms sliding around her back. " okay. alright, " he mumbles, thumbing at her shoulder without even thinking about it. then, his thumb taps out a short pattern of its own, halting, but legible nonetheless. thank you.

suddenly, there's a quiet clicking coming from the console and his head lifts from her shoulder, craning to see what's going on. one of the radar lights blinks on and off for a handful of seconds before shutting off entirely. perhaps it was just something floating past under the ocean's surface. somehow, simon just doesn't seem himself as that lucky.

" you shouldn't be down here, " he murmurs, heart rate finally returning to the more normal stress of the past few hours. ( days? he's not sure. ) he steps back, though his hand lingers on her arm. she's the first person he's seen in days ( hours? he's not sure. ), and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't glad to see someone. that being said, there wasn't supposed to be anyone down here in the sub with him, and the oxygen is already half-depleted. he can't help but worry. repeating himself, but with more force this time, " you shouldn't be down here, stel– we need to go back up. "

Optics immediately snap to the console , wincing at the harsh sound of the beep from it . Then slowly the trail the wall . Landing on the 02 meter rests dangerously low .

Two lights greet her gaze ; it's his voice that reels her back in . YOU SHOULDN'T BE HERE . The words float around in her cranium , he may be right but that didn't change the situation at all .

She does her best to focus on her breathing , with a deep intake . . A shaky exhale follows right behind it . Yet her thoughts keep trailing back to what he said . But in a beautiful way . . Being here with him ? Somehow made things feel right ? She'd never admit it though .

he watches her eyes trail around the room, taking everything in. how long had she been under his feet, without him even realizing? " hey. " hands place on either side of her face, gently pulling her gaze back to his. " it's okay. we'll figure it out. somehow. alright? " he forces as much conviction into his voice as he can. he doesn't need to believe it – he just needs her to believe it. simon's hands slide down to her shoulders, squeezing for a moment before letting go. crossing the floor, he starts poking at the console again, studying the map. " yeah. we just, uh. we just need to get out of here, and then . . . then we'll be fine. " it's amazing how quickly she gave him a reason to try.

And for a split second ? She believed him , but that belief washes away when she realizes just how long she had been down there . His pacing making her nervous she tries to focus on other things . She had been down there for days ? Hours ? Now it has all begun to blur together , a hazy memory .

She brings a hand up to wipe away the sweat that is now beading down her face . When did it get so hot ? Turning back to the porthole window , she wonders how long it truly had been . Maybe it was all some big joke , that she would turn back around and they'd be home . .

But even home was a distant memory . Spinning back around optics lock on him . . Signing to him , she asks .

𝑯𝒐𝒘 ?

What if they never get out of here ?

Before the younger woman even had time to respond , he had already sprung into action . If it had been her ? She would've experienced severe whiplash for a moment . She stood there his words just hanging in the air ; this is until they settled in . Spinning around , optics trail the dark death trap until they land on him fidgeting with the life jacket . She had half the right mind to help him . .

The last thing she needed was him shouting again . And with it being directed at her ?? She didn't want that . Watching as he lowered himself into the small crawlspace ? A shiver builds at the base of her spine . . And rolls through her body .

By the time he resurfaced ? She was sat in the corner by the console , legs pulled up to her chest . She was staring at the back where the camera resided . Thoughts of being trapped below the floor racing through her Cranium . Her head snaps towards him as soon as blood splatters on his face .

Optics blow wide , she immediately sits up - not without smacking herself against the wall . As soon as her feet hit the ground again ? She's padding towards him quickly . Worry written all over her face , all hope she had earlier ? Had already dissipated . . She had a bad feeling about being down here , maybe they wouldn't make it .

HULL BREACH. HULL BREACH. HULL BREACH.

Simon ignores the system screaming at him in favour of checking over Stella, brow furrowed in deep concern as he wipes away any blood that might have dripped onto her. "It's gonna be okay," he says, and he doesn't know if it's more for her benefit than his own. "Just, um -- we just need to keep moving."

HULL BREACH. HULL BREACH. HULL BREACH.

He takes a deep, shaky breath. The constant noise is like nails on a chalkboard, worsened by the fact Simon already feels like a raw, exposed nerve. He's trying to keep his cool for Stella, but he's obviously struggling with the whole situation.

HULL BREACH. FIRE. HULL BREACH. FIRE. HULL BREACH. FIRE.

"What--?" Simon turns, eyes widening as the place has now burst into flames. He gestures wildly at the fire extinguisher. "Stella, pass the -- hand it over, quick!"

Another wave of panic washes over grime covered features , she moves quickly through the blaring sound . Reaching out she grabs the extinguisher , stumbling over herself she holds it out to him .

The sheer panic in his voice is enough to have her nerves flaring up . He was usually the one who was more put together . . In her eyes at least . That's just how he held himself around her .

Poor sheltered Stella as soon as it's in his hand ? She's scooting herself back into her corner . Terror burrowing its way into her heart . It was in this moment , that she felt the most useless . . She ever had in her natural life . And it hit her like a ton of bricks .

What could she do to help him . . . Nothing she would just get in the way . That's what she was told on Eden by the others . So she kept her distance . So she sits there like a child who has been disciplined .

"I saw everything."

[ @failedends ! ]

The voice practically causes her to jump out of her skin , spinning on her heel she tries to spot where the voice came from . Optics trail the room . . But to no avail .

𝚆𝙷𝙾𝚂 𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁𝙴 ?

" stel– . . . what the hell are you doing here? "

[ @frcmblood \ context is up to you! ]

Her head snaps up , optics blowing wide . . Yet she feigned innocence as if she hadn't done anything wrong . Hands move swiftly as she signs to him .

𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒀𝒐𝒖

She points out as if that is obvious . . Which it should be .

his gaze only gets more bewildered as she signs. " why the fuck– no, stella, i mean why are you here? down here? " he glances back towards the open crawlspace, fear gripping his heart with a dark hand. what if he hadn't gone down sooner? what if it had taken longer for him to find her? it had taken long enough in the first place. his hand shakes slightly as he reaches out to grab her shoulder – gently at first, then more firmly, as if subconsciously realizing she was, in fact, real. " are– are you okay? do you– what . . . " shaking his head, he stares at the crawlspace a moment longer, heart pounding against his rib cage as if it's trying to break out. his fingers tighten slightly on her shoulder, looking back to her. " . . . are you alright? "

At this point ? Her heart is beating so fast , she's convinced the sub itself could sense how fearful she was . Arms move to encircle her brother tightly . A shaky breath rolls past split lips . Her mind was failing her in this moment . Instead she aims for tapping against his chest . 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 . . Morse code . Just another way they communicate .

Her grip around him tightens . In fear that if she lets go ? He will disappear ; that she will open her eyes and she will still be trapped beneath the floor .

she moves in and he instinctively pulls her close, arms sliding around her back. " okay. alright, " he mumbles, thumbing at her shoulder without even thinking about it. then, his thumb taps out a short pattern of its own, halting, but legible nonetheless. thank you.

suddenly, there's a quiet clicking coming from the console and his head lifts from her shoulder, craning to see what's going on. one of the radar lights blinks on and off for a handful of seconds before shutting off entirely. perhaps it was just something floating past under the ocean's surface. somehow, simon just doesn't seem himself as that lucky.

" you shouldn't be down here, " he murmurs, heart rate finally returning to the more normal stress of the past few hours. ( days? he's not sure. ) he steps back, though his hand lingers on her arm. she's the first person he's seen in days ( hours? he's not sure. ), and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't glad to see someone. that being said, there wasn't supposed to be anyone down here in the sub with him, and the oxygen is already half-depleted. he can't help but worry. repeating himself, but with more force this time, " you shouldn't be down here, stel– we need to go back up. "

Optics immediately snap to the console , wincing at the harsh sound of the beep from it . Then slowly the trail the wall . Landing on the 02 meter rests dangerously low .

Two lights greet her gaze ; it's his voice that reels her back in . YOU SHOULDN'T BE HERE . The words float around in her cranium , he may be right but that didn't change the situation at all .

She does her best to focus on her breathing , with a deep intake . . A shaky exhale follows right behind it . Yet her thoughts keep trailing back to what he said . But in a beautiful way . . Being here with him ? Somehow made things feel right ? She'd never admit it though .

" stel– . . . what the hell are you doing here? "

[ @frcmblood \ context is up to you! ]

Her head snaps up , optics blowing wide . . Yet she feigned innocence as if she hadn't done anything wrong . Hands move swiftly as she signs to him .

𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒀𝒐𝒖

She points out as if that is obvious . . Which it should be .

his gaze only gets more bewildered as she signs. " why the fuck– no, stella, i mean why are you here? down here? " he glances back towards the open crawlspace, fear gripping his heart with a dark hand. what if he hadn't gone down sooner? what if it had taken longer for him to find her? it had taken long enough in the first place. his hand shakes slightly as he reaches out to grab her shoulder – gently at first, then more firmly, as if subconsciously realizing she was, in fact, real. " are– are you okay? do you– what . . . " shaking his head, he stares at the crawlspace a moment longer, heart pounding against his rib cage as if it's trying to break out. his fingers tighten slightly on her shoulder, looking back to her. " . . . are you alright? "

#*. • rai rambles #ooc post

At this point ? Her heart is beating so fast , she's convinced the sub itself could sense how fearful she was . Arms move to encircle her brother tightly . A shaky breath rolls past split lips . Her mind was failing her in this moment . Instead she aims for tapping against his chest . 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 . . Morse code . Just another way they communicate .

Her grip around him tightens . In fear that if she lets go ? He will disappear ; that she will open her eyes and she will still be trapped beneath the floor .

PUTTING HER UNDER CONSTRUCTION !!

I'm gonna redo her blog and make it all pretty guys bear with me .

She gives him a look , one that says it all . Disbelief washes over her ; if there is one thing she knows it's her brother . All of his tells are engraved into her brain .

A small glare is sent his way , hitting his chest gently . Her way of saying stop lying cause she is smarter than that . It wasn't until his question that her optics lit up in recognition . Nodding she stumbles towards the hole in the ground . Feet padding the metal along the way . Her voice greets him . Raspy and broken ; she shouldn't be speaking . . It's only doing more damage .

" B-Back , switch . . "

Her voice tears through her throat , a small hiss of pain following behind it . Her answer is vague . . But it's enough .

He takes a deep breath and nods. "Okay, um --- I'll go down and see what I can do. You wait here and make sure the light stays on, okay?" He moves closer to the hatch, looking down into the gloomy darkness with a furrowed brow. "Fuck me," he mutters, wipes sweat from his brow. He could do with a better light --- oh! The life jacket.

Simon scrambles to the corner where he'd thrown the lifejacket, and what proceeds is a mental back and forth with himself where he realises he drank all the fucking water, curses himself for being so stupid, then spits on it. His faces lights up when the torch does. He looks at Stella and nods. "Okay, uh --- just wait here." As if she has anywhere else to go.

And then he's gone, crawling down the hatch and shuffling himself forwards on his elbows. It takes a few minutes, and a lot of cursing, but eventually he manages to restart the engine. He hauls himself back up out of the crawlspace with a genuine smile, because at least the power's back on.

The smile drops when he sees that the porthole is open. He stares at the thing on the other side with wide eyes, glass cracking before he suddenly jumps into action and closes the hutch.

--- Blood splattered across his face. He turns to Stella immediately, unable to hide the sheer terror in his eyes. "Are you okay?"

Before the younger woman even had time to respond , he had already sprung into action . If it had been her ? She would've experienced severe whiplash for a moment . She stood there his words just hanging in the air ; this is until they settled in . Spinning around , optics trail the dark death trap until they land on him fidgeting with the life jacket . She had half the right mind to help him . .

The last thing she needed was him shouting again . And with it being directed at her ?? She didn't want that . Watching as he lowered himself into the small crawlspace ? A shiver builds at the base of her spine . . And rolls through her body .

By the time he resurfaced ? She was sat in the corner by the console , legs pulled up to her chest . She was staring at the back where the camera resided . Thoughts of being trapped below the floor racing through her Cranium . Her head snaps towards him as soon as blood splatters on his face .

Optics blow wide , she immediately sits up - not without smacking herself against the wall . As soon as her feet hit the ground again ? She's padding towards him quickly . Worry written all over her face , all hope she had earlier ? Had already dissipated . . She had a bad feeling about being down here , maybe they wouldn't make it .

As soon as he's done , a look of relief washes over her features . Quickly she nods to him pulling herself from the floor , she practically stumbles to catch herself . Turning back to him hands move swiftly to sign .

𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 . . 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 ?

Always quick to worry about him , never did she even think of herself .

"I'm fine," he lies. "Just a few bumps and bruises. Nothin' I can't handle." He offers what he hopes is a reassuring smile, before goes about carefully tending to his own wounds. He's silent as he does it, methodically cleaning every injury, wrapping his wrists, tying his hair back from his face.

He feels better when he's done.

"Okay, uh... now what?" He thinks for a moment before gesturing at the crawlspace Stella had been hiding in. "We need power again. You see anything useful down there?"

She gives him a look , one that says it all . Disbelief washes over her ; if there is one thing she knows it's her brother . All of his tells are engraved into her brain .

A small glare is sent his way , hitting his chest gently . Her way of saying stop lying cause she is smarter than that . It wasn't until his question that her optics lit up in recognition . Nodding she stumbles towards the hole in the ground . Feet padding the metal along the way . Her voice greets him . Raspy and broken ; she shouldn't be speaking . . It's only doing more damage .

" B-Back , switch . . "

Her voice tears through her throat , a small hiss of pain following behind it . Her answer is vague . . But it's enough .

" stel– . . . what the hell are you doing here? "

[ @frcmblood \ context is up to you! ]

Her head snaps up , optics blowing wide . . Yet she feigned innocence as if she hadn't done anything wrong . Hands move swiftly as she signs to him .

𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒀𝒐𝒖

She points out as if that is obvious . . Which it should be .

Like a kid getting candy . She snaps out of it immediately , optics blowing wide as they trail back to him . The harsh tone of his voice was enough to ground her back . . in the situation they are currently in . Her heart thrums against her ribcage like a stampede . Bringing a hand up to her head , she pulls it back to reveal crimson dripping from her fingers .

How long she had been bleeding ? She had no idea . But she was finding it hard to keep herself upright . She had bashed her head down there quite a few times . Holding it up to him , the liquid rolls down her arm . Hɪᴛ ᴍʏ ʜᴇᴀᴅ . . She gently taps against his chest with her free hand . Not wanting to get more blood on him .

Simon is quick to spring into action. He pulls out the med-kit he'd found earlier and focuses entirely on cleaning her up; wiping away the blood, cleaning the wound, bandaging it up. He works in near total silence, and once he's done he wipes any excess blood off his hands onto his trousers, then leans in and kisses the top of her head.

"There," he says, pulling back. "All better?"

As soon as he's done , a look of relief washes over her features . Quickly she nods to him pulling herself from the floor , she practically stumbles to catch herself . Turning back to him hands move swiftly to sign .

𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 . . 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 ?

Always quick to worry about him , never did she even think of herself .

Was she hurt ? That's a loaded question all on its own . She had been tossed around since she got in here ; deep unsteady breaths as she finally looked up at him . Optics locking on the way his face contorts as his thoughts race . She put him in this position ; all for her SELFISH needs . She reminded herself this as she looks away from him , her look is askance as it lands on the speaker hanging from the wall .

Easily she spaces out , this was a bad habit she had back on Eden as well . It was her way of dealing with the trauma of growing up there . Simon always told her to focus on one thing . . And let it take her there , so to avoid his question all together . . This is what she did .

The last thing she wanted to do ? Was cause him even more stress . She didn't care about herself in this moment .

Simon lets out an irritated huff, and rudely snaps his fingers in front of her eyes. "Hey, Stella! Come on. Focus." That whole spacing out thing may have been useful to hide from what happened on Eden, but they're not on Eden right now. They're in a leaking metal tank at the bottom of a fucking blood ocean, and Simon is too stressed about the situation to bother sugar-coating himself the way he normally does in front of Stella.

"Here's what we're gonna do, okay? You're gonna tell me if you're injured, and then we're gonna fix it. Then I'm gonna bandage myself up, and we're gonna get ourselves outta here. But you need to tell me if you're hurt, first."

Like a kid getting candy . She snaps out of it immediately , optics blowing wide as they trail back to him . The harsh tone of his voice was enough to ground her back . . in the situation they are currently in . Her heart thrums against her ribcage like a stampede . Bringing a hand up to her head , she pulls it back to reveal crimson dripping from her fingers .

How long she had been bleeding ? She had no idea . But she was finding it hard to keep herself upright . She had bashed her head down there quite a few times . Holding it up to him , the liquid rolls down her arm . Hɪᴛ ᴍʏ ʜᴇᴀᴅ . . She gently taps against his chest with her free hand . Not wanting to get more blood on him .

As soon as she was pulled out , everything came crashing down ; it felt like she was back on Eden being coddled by her brother like this . It had always been this way . Shaking hands move to clutch at the fabric of his scuffed up shirt . A strangled sob ripped past her split lips .

It hangs in the dense reused air , another following behind it . The bright flash of the camera causes her to flinch her grip on the shirt only tightened . She couldn't tell if this was real or fake . . But she didn't care . If even for a moment she believed she was actually with her brother ? She would cherish it . Maybe it was her brains way of letting her go gently ; her last dying thought and hallucination being him .

Fingers tap against his chest . Morse code telling him that she wouldn't ' I'd never leave you behind ' the thought alone ? Broke her more than he could imagine .

Simon lets out a shaky sob, pulling her closer, grip tightening. "You should've," he says, voice muffled. "You can't be down here. You can't." Maybe if he says it enough times, it will make it true. Eventually, though, he has to pull away --- he lets her go from his embrace, wipes the tears from his eyes. Blinks a few times, tries to slow his breathing.

"You're an idiot. Okay? You're --- fuck. Okay." If you listen closely you can hear his mind racing as he attempts to figure out a plan. Some kind of next step he can take to get them out of here. "Okay. First things first, are you hurt?"

Was she hurt ? That's a loaded question all on its own . She had been tossed around since she got in here ; deep unsteady breaths as she finally looked up at him . Optics locking on the way his face contorts as his thoughts race . She put him in this position ; all for her SELFISH needs . She reminded herself this as she looks away from him , her look is askance as it lands on the speaker hanging from the wall .

Easily she spaces out , this was a bad habit she had back on Eden as well . It was her way of dealing with the trauma of growing up there . Simon always told her to focus on one thing . . And let it take her there , so to avoid his question all together . . This is what she did .

The last thing she wanted to do ? Was cause him even more stress . She didn't care about herself in this moment .

The creaking of the floorboards , the sound of the blood lapping against the side of the submersible ; these were all things she tried to focus on . She had reminded herself multiple times . . This was for Simon . Yet the longer she was down there ? The more her breathing became uneven . She hadn't realized just how small the crawlspace was . . Until she had been trapped down there for who knows how long now .

Shaking frame , she pulls her knees to her chest . Sweat beading down her face . . Why was it so HOT in here ? Has it always been this hot ? Everything was quiet . . She had tried multiple times to kick at the floor . Hoping to catch her brothers attention sooner ; Everytime she tried it ? Something above kept him distracted . He couldn't hear her . .

Being thrown around ? She hit her head a good few times , on loose poles sticking out of the walls ; if she wasn't mistaken she might be concussed . Her mind is running at a million miles a minute . She hadn't even heard the floor being unscrewed . . Until she heard Simon's booming voice .

Her head shoots up immediately , optics red around the rim from crying to herself silently . Was this real ? Was her mind playing tricks on her ? She was sure she was going to die down there .

"I said get out," he snaps again, hand instinctively reaching up to press the button again. He lets out a sigh, then reaches down into the crawlspace to pull her up. It takes a bit of finessing, but he eventually manages to haul her out -- and as soon as she's up, he pulls her into a tight hug.

Leaning back against the wall of the submarine, reaching up to hit the button again. Another flash of green light, and Simon shifts until Stella is sat in his lap. He pulls her body against him into a tight embrace, one hand gently stroking her hair, head buried into her shoulder.

Fuck, he didn't realize how alone he'd felt down here until all of a sudden he wasn't. He lets out a shaky breath. "You shouldn't be here, Stell. You shouldn't be here."

As soon as she was pulled out , everything came crashing down ; it felt like she was back on Eden being coddled by her brother like this . It had always been this way . Shaking hands move to clutch at the fabric of his scuffed up shirt . A strangled sob ripped past her split lips .

It hangs in the dense reused air , another following behind it . The bright flash of the camera causes her to flinch her grip on the shirt only tightened . She couldn't tell if this was real or fake . . But she didn't care . If even for a moment she believed she was actually with her brother ? She would cherish it . Maybe it was her brains way of letting her go gently ; her last dying thought and hallucination being him .

Fingers tap against his chest . Morse code telling him that she wouldn't ' I'd never leave you behind ' the thought alone ? Broke her more than he could imagine .

[ C.O.I information terminal. Starter. @mutomaledetto ]

Clumsy hands hurriedly use a pair of medical scissors to unscrew the hatch. Simon's face is set in a deep frown of concentration, eyebrows knitting together as he tries to stay steady. A small noise of excitement escapes him when he finally manages it, and he quickly pulls it up to see what's beneath.

--- and he immediately freezes. Head titling to the side as he stares down into the dark at what seems to be a human-shaped mass laying beneath the floorboards. Slowly, he moves back and hits the camera button. Green light illuminates the submarine, and he sucks in a breath of sheer terror as he sees who's down there.

His sister. Fuck. Surely the C.O.I hadn't condemned her to the same fate, without so much as telling him. Did she get stuck? Did she sneak aboard?

"Stella, what the fuck are you doing here?" Usually he tries to stay calmer around her, but this is too tense a situation ( too surprising, too terrifying ) for him to mask his rage the way he normally does. "Are you fucking serious? Did you -- look, just get out of there. Now."

The creaking of the floorboards , the sound of the blood lapping against the side of the submersible ; these were all things she tried to focus on . She had reminded herself multiple times . . This was for Simon . Yet the longer she was down there ? The more her breathing became uneven . She hadn't realized just how small the crawlspace was . . Until she had been trapped down there for who knows how long now .

Shaking frame , she pulls her knees to her chest . Sweat beading down her face . . Why was it so HOT in here ? Has it always been this hot ? Everything was quiet . . She had tried multiple times to kick at the floor . Hoping to catch her brothers attention sooner ; Everytime she tried it ? Something above kept him distracted . He couldn't hear her . .

Being thrown around ? She hit her head a good few times , on loose poles sticking out of the walls ; if she wasn't mistaken she might be concussed . Her mind is running at a million miles a minute . She hadn't even heard the floor being unscrewed . . Until she heard Simon's booming voice .

Her head shoots up immediately , optics red around the rim from crying to herself silently . Was this real ? Was her mind playing tricks on her ? She was sure she was going to die down there .